


The Night Howler

by madsholland



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sweater Weather - Lumosinlove
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Avengers AU, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:13:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28639071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madsholland/pseuds/madsholland
Summary: Remus Lupin was just trying to live a normal life. He went to class, spent time with his friends, and secured a prestigious internship with Riddle Industries in their molecular biology lab. The only problem? Normal college students didn’t have superhuman powers.Remus has mastered the art of hiding away his abilities but when a villain from his past returns, he decides that he isn’t going to hide any longer. This time, he’s going to fight.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Violence/blood.

**2016.**

Most of the time, Remus absolutely loved living in the city. There was never a want for things to do; whether you're looking for a quiet dinner, a lively night out with friends, or day in the park spent with a good book, there was always a place for you. The life and energy of the city was unmatched. There were times when Remus absolutely hated it, however. Tonight was one of those nights.

_“B Train: Construction Delay. Estimated Arrival: One-Two Hours.”_

“Great.” Remus groaned and ran a hand over his face. At this rate, he wouldn’t be home until well into the evening. 

_Text to Mom: Train delay. Probably won’t make dinner._

Pocketing his phone, Remus turned from the monitor and walked to the closest coffee stand. He’d spent the past two hours working on SAT Prep after school and felt like he could fall asleep standing up if he let his eyes close long enough. The last thing he needed was to fall asleep at the station and miss the train. 

Thankfully, Remus was able to find an empty bench and settled in for the long wait. He leaned back against the wall, pulling a leg up onto the bench. One hand was resting his book on his knee, the other was holding the slightly-burnt coffee in his lap. 

He was reading _American Wolf_ by Nate Blakeslee. It had been gifted to him as a joke - _“Like you, Rey! The cover calls it a drama of lupine love, care, and grief. Get it?”_ \- but Remus found himself actually enjoying the book a lot. So much so that he barely noticed that someone had settled in on the bench beside him. It wasn’t until the man was leaning in close to look over his shoulder that Remus looked away from the page, raising an eyebrow at the man. 

“Can I help you?” The man was dirty, which wasn’t uncommon for the sort of crowd you encounter sitting in a subway station, but this man seemed exceptionally so. His matted grey hair clung to his head and when he smiled at Remus, he revealed sharp, yellow teeth. He smelt like he hadn't showered in quite some time and his clothes were filthy. 

“Just seeing what you’re reading. You like wolves?” 

The man was leaning so close that Remus could feel his breath on his skin. He tried to lean away from him as casually as possibly, hiding the movement with a shrug of his shoulders. 

“It’s a good book. I’m enjoying it.” The man said nothing, the smile still on his face as he seemed to study Remus. The strange look on his face made Remus uneasy. Remus was tall for his age, often towering over most people, but this man seemed to be twice his size in mass alone. Everything about him was setting off warning signs in his mind. 

_“B Train will be arriving in 5 minutes,”_ an announcement sounded through the station.  


Remus all but jumped from the bench, scooping up his backpack and throwing it over his shoulder as he walked in the direction of the platform. He positioned himself as close to other people as possible as he waited for the train and followed the group into the first available car. There was no sign of the man when Remus looked around and he sighed in relief. He pulled out his headphones and played music for the ride home. 

It was well after sunset when the train finally reached Remus’s stop. He pulled out his phone to check the time - _7:46_. Remus changed the song before pocketing his phone again and setting off to walk the rest of the way home. It was only a few blocks away and, if he took a few short-cuts between buildings, he should be able to make it home before 8:00. 

He was cutting through one of these short-cuts when someone grabbed him from behind, shoving him hard into the wall of the building. Remus winced as his cheek slammed against the brick. Rough hands turned him around and yanked out his headphones before pinning his arms against the wall. Remus’s eyes widened as he looked up at the snarling face of the man from the subway station. 

“My wallet’s in my pocket. Take it.” Remus tried to keep as calm as possible but he knew the man could hear his voice tremble. 

“I don’t want your wallet.” 

“What do you want? Take my phone. I don’t care.” The man threw his head back and laughed, the sound chilling Remus to his bones. 

“Sweet pup. I want you.” 

Before Remus could even react, the man lunged at him with his teeth barred. There was a blinding pain as the man bit down hard in his right shoulder. Remus could barely even process what was happening as the man's teeth tore into his skin. Unable to move his arms against the weight, Remus kicked his leg out as hard as he could between the man’s legs. The man released him from the bite as he cried out, tearing the skin of his shoulder further with the movement. Remus seized his opportunity and pushed out of the hold, taking off down the alley. 

He was almost back to the street when the man tackled him to the ground. Remus cried out as his shoulder connected with the pavement. He managed to turn over so they were face to face and struggled against him, but the man was too strong. 

“You have some fire in you. That’ll be good. You'll be so strong.”

Sharp nails dug deep into his skin and Remus could feel blood begin to pour out. With his right arm, Remus felt around the ground for anything he could use to fight the man off. His fingers brushed against cool metal and he stretched his arm out until he could wrap his hand around it. The man was leaning in with his teeth barred again just as Remus swung with as much force as he could muster. The metal connected with the man’s head and knocked him to the side, allowing Remus to scramble to his feet. 

“I’m not done with you yet, pup!” the man laughed. 

Remus sprinted the rest of the way home without looking back. He didn't stop until he was safely inside, all three locks on the door secured behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mention of blood and violence.

**Present Day.**

It was late afternoon when Remus walked out the front doors of Riddle Industries, putting on his sunglasses as he stepped into the muggy July heat. The street was always packed with people at the end of the work day, only adding to the uncomfortable warmth. Remus took off his tie so that he could undo the top few buttons of his white button down before rolling up his sleeves as he walked toward the subway.

Remus was well into the second month of his internship in the molecular biology lab and the job was nothing like he had anticipated. His first month had been spent doing a lot of grunt work for his supervisors, conducting the research and writing reports on projects that the scientists didn’t have time to do themselves. Unlike some of the other interns, Remus enjoyed the research. He’d always loved it, but having the opportunity to conduct research with so much at his disposal within Riddle Industries was precisely why Remus had been so determined to land the job. 

Riddle Industries was known worldwide for their advancements in scientific research and experimentation and the scientists who worked there were some of the best in the field. Remus hoped that working in the molecular biology lab and studying under these scientists would lead him to the answers he was looking for about what had happened to him all those years ago. Remus had been conducting his own research for years, in secret of course, but always found himself at a dead end. 

There was no way to explain the changes that came about in the course of a single evening. Remus became stronger, unnaturally so, and his body seemed to change with the increased strength. He had never been particularly athletic but now Remus was all lean muscle without ever having to lift a finger. All of his senses had been heightened, he had lightning fast reflexes, and he could somehow defy all laws of gravity by jumping to unbelievable heights and climbing the walls. He’d even grown fangs and claws which, thankfully, he had eventually learned to control so that they would retract and not be visible. 

The most incredible change was his ability to heal. It shouldn’t be humanly possible - and as far as Remus had found, it _wasn’t_ \- for the body to heal from injury without the aid of medicine or doctors. But he could. The night of his accident, all of his injuries had miraculously healed by the time he got to his house. If it hadn’t been for the blood covering his clothes and the scars that were left, Remus would question whether he had fallen asleep on the subway and dreamed up the whole incident. It seemed that the scars from that night were the only thing that Remus’s body couldn’t fix. 

He hated the scars. They were a reminder of what he was that stared back at him in the mirror every morning. They were a reminder that, no matter how much he tried to hide his abilities, he wasn’t normal. 

Remus was walking up the steps from the subway and onto the street when his phone buzzed in his pocket with a text from Lily. 

**Lily:** _Hey, Re! Snagged a table by the bar. See you soon! :)_

**Remus:** _Just got off the subway. Be there soon!_

It’d become sort of a staple now for Remus to head downtown for happy hour after work on Fridays to meet up with Lily, James, and Sirius for drinks. It was the easiest way to ensure that they’d be able to see each other every week around their busy summer schedules. 

Of course, he and Lily saw each other everyday at their apartment. It was James and Sirius who had become a little harder to pin down now that classes had let out. Their summer jobs seemed to have an unpredictable work schedule that left them on call almost 24/7. Remus was still a little unsure as to what they were actually doing but he didn’t question them too much. 

Remus slid his sunglasses on top of his head as he walked into the bar. 

“Rey!” Lily had a bright smile on her face as she waved to him from her table with James and Sirius. 

“Hey guys.” Remus smiled at his friends as he took the empty seat beside Sirius. 

“How’s our favorite mad scientist? Make any life-changing scientific discoveries this week?” Sirius said, throwing an arm around Remus’s shoulders. 

“I discovered that the coffee maker in the break room on the second floor has vanilla chai, so I would say that is pretty life-changing.” 

Sirius laughed and sat back in his chair again, moving his arm back to his side as the waitress took Remus’s drink order. “I don’t know how you drink that. It’s so sweet.” 

“You should see the flavors of creamer he keeps in the fridge. Talk about sweet,” Lily added. 

“I like to _enjoy_ my cup of coffee, thank you very much.” 

“Oh we know all about your sweet tooth by now, Rey,” James said. “You know, I saw the brewery on Third post that they had a chocolate stout on tap now. Sounds right up your alley.” 

“That sounds really good, actually.” 

“We should go there next week! Maybe I’ll even try the chocolate stout,” Sirius said, sending Remus a wink.

“Ooh, yes! If the weather’s nice we can sit up on the rooftop!” Lily exclaimed. “If you guys can get the day off work, we can go on Saturday.”

“You know our jobs don’t work like that, Lils,” James began. When he saw the small pout on Lily’s face he leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. “But we can try.” 

“Thank you.” Lily smiled and turned to give James a quick kiss on the lips. 

“Why do they need you on call all the time, anyway?” Remus asked, turning to look at Sirius. 

“I guess because we’re the new guys. Don’t want to bother the seasoned employees with that kind of thing.” Sirius took a sip of his beer, averting his gaze to the other side of the bar. 

James and Sirius were both pretty odd when it came to talking about work. The most information they’d given was that they were working with a business firm in the Finance District. Even Lily didn’t seem to have any more information about what they did day to day at the job. Remus knew it drove her crazy that James never seemed to give her detailed answers about it. It was always best to change the subject and not discuss work for too long, these days. 

“Can you believe we’re going into our last year of school?” Remus asked. This change of subject did the job and the four of them spent the next few hours talking about their time in college and all of the fun they had. 

James was retelling the story of the first time he took Sirius to use the laundromat on campus, leaving Remus and Lily in stitches. 

“I don’t even know how he managed to do it. We were sitting on the washers watching the game on our phone when BAM! The dryer with Sirius’s clothes burst into flames.” 

“That wasn’t my fault! I had never done laundry before!” Sirius tried to defend, only making the rest of them laugh harder. 

Remus was wiping tears from his eyes when they were interrupted by the ringing of both James and Sirius’s phones. The laughter quieted as the two checked their phones before sharing a look. 

“I’m sorry, guys. We’ve got to go,” Sirius said, pushing his chair back to stand. 

“It’s alright. Go save the day,” Remus joked, offering Sirius a smile. 

“What?” Sirius’s eyes widened slightly and he sneaked a glance at James. 

“You know. Solve whatever crisis they’re calling you into work for on a Friday night?”

“Duh. One beer too many, I guess,” Sirius replied, letting out a strange laugh. James gave Lily a kiss before standing. 

“Next week? The brewery?” James asked. 

“Sounds great. Bye guys!” Lily called. Remus waved goodbye as James and Sirius walked quickly out of the bar. 

“I’ll settle the tab and then we can head home.” 

It didn’t take Lily and Remus long to walk the few blocks home to their apartment. They moved into their small, two bedroom walk-up after their freshman year and have been there ever since. It may have been small, but Remus loved it.

“I was thinking pasta for dinner? I don’t want anything complicated,” Lily said, pushing open the front door. 

“Works for me. I’m going to take a quick shower then I’ll come help.” 

Remus was in the middle of shampooing his hair when there was a banging on the bathroom door. 

“Remus! Get out here, quick!”

In his panic, Remus all but fell out of the shower. He grabbed his towel off the rack and wrapped it around his waist before running out into the kitchen, leaving a trail of water in his wake. 

“Is the apartment on fire?” He looked around the kitchen frantically, but Lily was nowhere to be found. He heard the sound of the television from the living room and hurried in to find Lily sitting on the couch, staring at the television with a hand covering her mouth. 

“Lils? What is it?”

“Oh Rey, it’s so horrible,” she said, turning to look at him. He could see her eyes welling up with tears and he walked across the room to sit beside her. “There was an attack, only a few blocks away.” 

_“The attackers targeted a children’s playground. Many of the victims appeared to have suffered bite and claw marks. It is unclear at this time what exactly caused the injuries to the children.”_

The footage changed from the newscaster to show a man standing behind a small, wooden podium. The man was tall with short, brown hair and a scruffy beard and wearing a sharp, black suit. He was flanked on either side by two women, both agents of The Order. 

_“The individuals who planned this attack are incredibly dangerous. Rest assured, The Order is on the case and will be working tirelessly to apprehend those responsible. We ask the public to remain vigilant and contact Agent McKinnon with any possible leads.”_

The footage cut back to the newscaster standing in the street just outside the city park. 

_“That was Director of The Order, Pascal Dumais. At this time, it is unclear as to how many casualties were suffered. Many of the children are still missing at this time.”_

Remus felt his blood run cold as the broadcast cut to commercial. Lily was crying beside him and he put an arm around her to pull her to his chest. They sat like that for a long time, neither of them wanting to move from the couch. 

Remus felt numb. An attack on children. _Bite marks._ He felt sick. 

“I’m not hungry anymore. I may just head to bed.” Lily let out a sniffle as she stood from the couch. Remus followed suit, holding the towel securely around his waist. 

“Yeah. No. I’m not either. Let me know if you need me Lil, okay?” She pulled him in for one more hug before retreating to her room. 

Back in his bedroom, Remus pulled on a pair of sweatpants and sat on his bed with his laptop. He spent hours pouring over every news article from the attack, reading every description of the incident he could find. While there was still no description of who the attackers were, Remus knew that it had to have been the man that attacked him all those years ago. It had to be. He was still out there. He was attacking _children._ Why would this man want to attack children?

The only pictures circulating online about the incident featured the members of The Order - the city’s own superheroes. There were images of the Golden Snitch, The Phoenix, Storm Surge, and Mind Master in pursuit of the attackers and aiding the victims. 

It was seeing these images that sparked an idea. While The Order was amazing, as they had proven over the years with all their heroics, they did not know who they were dealing with now. They didn’t know what he could do, what would happen to the victims if they were to survive. 

But Remus did. And he was going to do something about it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Violence and blood.

This was probably a stupid idea. Remus felt pretty stupid, at least, as he stared at his reflection in his full length mirror. He was wearing a skintight black spandex suit that covered his entire body from the neck down. A silver wolf was emblazoned on his chest, depicting the creature howling at the moon. He’d also altered a pair of black gloves to allow him to extend and retract his claws. 

Remus pushed his hair back off his face before pulling the black mask over his face. The material covered his entire head and neck, save for an opening around his mouth so that he wouldn’t cover up his fangs. He’d been careful to ensure that none of his scars would be visible in the opening, just in case. The mask also had jet black lenses that covered his eyes, which would both further hide his identity and protect his eyes. 

Despite the fact that he was wearing a pair of black Vans sneakers with the suit (he hadn’t figured out what to do about the shoes yet), Remus thought he actually looked pretty good. Hot even, if the suit weren’t created for the purpose of hunting down a dangerous criminal. 

Remus walked to his bedroom door and pressed his ear against the wood, listening for any movement from Lily. She had gone to bed hours ago but he didn’t want to risk her coming to look for him while he was dressed like this. That would be a little hard to explain. When the coast was clear, Remus walked to his window and climbed out onto the fire escape. 

He didn’t have much of a plan. When they’d decided to cancel their weekly happy hour that day to instead go to the brewery tomorrow, it gave Remus the perfect opportunity to go out for the first time looking for his attacker. Sure, it was unlikely he would find him that evening. He just hoped he found _something_ that could give him an idea of where to look next. His plan currently only extended so far as to go to the playground where the attack occurred the week prior and see if he could pick up any familiar scent. 

After quietly sliding the window closed behind him, Remus turned and looked around. It was late enough that no one was in the alley that ran beside his apartment. Taking a deep breath, Remus jumped off the fire escape toward the building across the alley. Instead of falling to the ground after hitting the wall, Remus found his hands and feet steadily adhering to the brick. He’d done it before, but he still didn’t expect it to work. Remus took a quick look at the ground below before turning his gaze back to the wall and beginning his climb. 

Remus pulled himself up onto the roof and stood up straight, taking a moment to look out over the city. It was really beautiful to see all the lights lit up in the distance. He’d have to look into whether their apartment building had access to the roof and bring Lily, Sirius, and James up there sometime. He walked to the south side of the roof and looked out over the edge at the adjacent building. 

“Okay, Remus. You’ve got this. Don’t overthink it.” 

He backed away from the edge and without pausing too long to think, Remus took off running and leapt over the edge. He landed on the next roof effortlessly and smiled to himself. 

“Wow, okay. Just have to do that about ten more times.” 

After getting over the initial shock, Remus found the whole thing rather exhilarating. He’d ignored his powers for so long and finally using them felt _good._ When he had reached the last building before the park, Remus climbed down the side of the building and looked around. The street was empty at that time of night. It seemed that anyone who would still be out and about was avoiding the street after what happened, the park still closed off with crime scene tape. Remus slipped under the tape and walked into the park. 

Of all his abilities, his heightened senses were something he had become quite good at mastering. It was kind of difficult to ignore this aspect of his powers during his day to day life. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the different smells around the park. There were the obvious smells associated with nature mixed with the sweet smells of food from the sugary snacks long forgotten in the garbage cans. 

Remus had found that humans had their own distinct smell, which was something he had never noticed before his enhanced senses. He was able to differentiate the age or gender of a person by smell alone. As he closed his eyes tighter to concentrate, Remus picked up a smell that was out of place. It smelled dirty, but not a natural sort of smell one would expect. There was a hint of booze and sulfur mixed with… something metallic? It was something that Remus couldn’t quite place. The scent as a whole seemed very dark. 

Trusting his instincts, Remus opened his eyes and tried to lock in his focus on that particular scent. He crossed back under the crime scene tape and began to follow the scent as stealthily as possible. He felt a little like a blood-hound, but it seemed to be working so he tried not to focus on how strange it actually was. 

It took Remus a little while to get used to following the scent, making wrong turns and having to double back in the other direction a few times. He walked for a long time, the smell getting stronger and more prominent as he went. The trail led him to a run down part of the city, one that Remus had never been to before. He froze when he turned a corner, hearing the faint sound of voices in the distance. To avoid detection, Remus climbed up the side of the nearest building and proceeded along the wall toward the source of the voices. 

“What’s Greyback playing at, expecting us to sit around like a couple of babysitters?”

“More like dog-sitters. I’m not going near those creatures.” 

“Good one, Rodolphus.” 

“I’m just glad he decided to put Scabior in charge of the brats instead.”

The two men were standing below Remus, leaning against the wall and smoking cigarettes as they spoke. Now that he was here, he really didn’t know what the next step was. He honestly didn’t expect to find anyone connected to the attack but based on the conversation he’d heard so far, they were definitely working for the man. _Greyback._

Could he take on the two men? He had the strength for it, that was for sure. Maybe knock them out and bring them to authorities? Christ, he should have planned this better. There was no way he could leave now that he had found them. He would have to do something. 

_Well, here goes nothing,_ Remus thought to himself. He dropped down off the wall, landing behind the two men. 

“Evening, gentlemen.” 

The two men whirled around, dropping their cigarettes in surprise. 

“What the fu-” 

One of the men lunged forward, throwing a punch toward Remus. He dodged it by leaning to the left before raising his own hand and landing a punch to the man’s jaw. The man fell back from the force of the hit. The second man had swung the large gun hanging from his back into his hands. Remus kicked the gun hard. Instead of bullets, a bright green light shot out of the gun and blew a hole in the wall of the building. 

_Holy shit._

Remus grabbed hold of the gun before the man could point it back at him. He punched the man in the face and tore the gun away, tossing it down the street. The man reeled back and this time he wasn’t quick enough to dodge it. He hit him twice and was swinging at him again when Remus grabbed his fist and twisted his arm behind his back. The man cried out and Remus kicked him in the back, sending him flying toward the wall. 

There was a yell as the first man was back on his feet, running at Remus with some sort of long sword with a glowing green blade. 

_Where the hell did they get these?_

In hindsight, Remus probably should have looked at them more closely to see that they had these weapons before dropping in. 

Remus jumped back to dodge each swing, faintly aware of the sound of sirens heading in their direction. The sound only distracted him for a moment, but it was long enough for the blade to slice into the side of Remus’s arm. 

Before he could swing again, Remus grabbed the man by the hand and punched him hard on the outside of his arm. There was a loud cracking sound as the man screamed, dropping the sword. Remus grabbed him by the front of the shirt and threw him to the ground. 

The sirens were incredibly close now, the blue and red lights illuminating the street. With one last look where the men were laying on the ground, Remus quickly jumped to the wall and climbed to the roof of the building before he could be seen. 

The sky was lit up with an orange glow that told him it was nearing sunrise as Remus crawled back through his window from the fire escape. He peeled off his clothes and hid them in the back of his closet before pulling on a pair of sweatpants. 

_That could’ve gone better._

Remus landed face down in his bed and immediately fell asleep.

______________________________

“Remus John Lupin, it’s time to wake up!”

Remus groaned at the shout and slowly blinked his eyes open as a smiling Sirius Black swung open his bedroom door. 

“I can’t believe you’re still asleep, you’re usua- _OH MY GOD!_ ” He was sitting up now as Sirius dove onto the bed, bringing a hand gently under Remus’s chin to turn his head. “What the hell happened?”

“It’s nothing, really. I’m fine,” Remus answered, leaning away from Sirius. The other boy’s eyes were wide with worry and Remus felt a little guilty for being the cause. He moved a hand to cover the bite scar on his bare shoulder, feeling a little self conscious without a shirt on. 

“What do you mean you’re fine? You’re covered in blood! Oh my god, Remus, your arm.” 

Remus’s eyes followed where Sirius was looking and took in the wound. It wasn’t bleeding anymore, his body already beginning to heal, but it still looked pretty bad. It didn’t help that he had been too tired to shower when he got home so he was covered in dried blood. 

By this time, Lily and James had heard Sirius’s shouting and were running through the door to see what was wrong. 

“Remus!” Lily was beside Sirius on the bed within seconds, her hands cupping his face. “When did this happen? You were fine when I went to sleep!”

“It looks a lot worse than it is. I went to get some food last night after you went to sleep and got jumped.” Remus looked down, moving his face out of Lily’s hands. He couldn’t look at them while he lied and hoped that they wouldn’t question the story. 

“What did they look like? We need to do something,” James said, his face hard as he kept his anger in check. 

“I didn’t get a good look at him. Really, let’s just forget about it. I’ll shower and we can just go to the brewery, okay?”

Lily nodded reluctantly and stood from the bed, walking out of the room with James. Sirius didn’t move and fixed Remus with a hard look. 

“I know when you’re lying by now, Rey. Are you really not going to tell me what happened?”

Remus ran a hand over his face and sighed. 

“I’m not lying to you, Sirius. Just let it go.” 

Sirius let out a groan as he stood from the bed. “Fine. Don’t tell me,” he said as he walked out of the room, angrily swinging the door shut behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Violence.

It had been two weeks since his first midnight rendezvous as The Night Howler and Remus was growing frustrated with his search for Greyback. He had snuck out his bedroom window every night to continue his search but the trail had run cold. The scent he had followed from the park had been buried beneath the smell of smog that often consumed the city. He had tried to retrace his steps and return to the alley where he fought with Greyback’s men, but that was a dead end as well. The Order responded to the scene shortly after Remus snuck away and the publicity from their appearance, as well as Remus’s fight with the men, seemed to have caused the group to relocate. 

Remus dragged himself from his workstation at around noon for his second cup of coffee of the day. It was a rather slow Wednesday at the lab and he was struggling to keep his eyes open as he poured through his assigned research project. 

As he was walking down the hallway to the break room on the second floor, Remus side-stepped a few men that were heading in the opposite direction. The two men in suits were talking in hushed tones to a scientist Remus hadn’t met yet. They silenced as he passed and it took a moment for the dark scent he now associated with Greyback to jolt his senses. He stopped dead in his tracks, turning around to see the tops of their heads disappear down the stairs to the lobby. Whirling around, Remus walked as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself and reentered his lab. 

“I’m going to take the rest of the day. Got a bit of a migraine,” Remus said to his supervisor, offering a smile in thanks at their well wishes as he slung his bag over his shoulder. 

When he exited the building, Remus looked over the heads of the crowd until he spotted the men in suits a half block away. He put on his sunglasses and slid his hands in his pockets as he walked down the street, maintaining a short distance from the men he was following. Even at midday, the street was busy enough that Remus could go unnoticed in the crowd. 

Remus followed the men for a few blocks and as the number of people around grew fewer and fewer, he knew he wouldn’t be able to go unnoticed for long. With a casual look around to see if anyone was watching him, he slipped into an empty alley and crouched beside a dumpster. Not wanting to lose the men, Remus quickly stripped off his work clothes as he dug through his backpack. The button down got stuck on his shoulders and he had to flail his right arm slightly to shake it off as his left dug out his suit. 

_I really need to start wearing this under my clothes_ , Remus thought with a huff as he jumped in place to pull the spandex up his thighs. He shimmied his upper body into the suit as he slipped his feet into his black Vans. 

He stuffed his work clothes into the backpack and shoved the bag under the dumpster to retrieve later. Remus pulled on his mask and jumped onto the wall, quickly climbing to the roof of the building to follow the trail from above. 

There was a group of men gathered between two of the buildings, heading toward the busy city street. The scent of sulfur was impossibly strong and when he looked closer, Remus could make out a multitude of weapons among the group. Remus climbed down the side of the building and had just dropped down behind the group when a ruby-colored blast cut off his path. He nearly fell back as he jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding a hit to the leg. The blast cut through a car and into the wall of a building as it moved toward the group of men.

Following the blast with his eyes to find its source, Remus saw a figure levitating above the ground. He was wearing a navy blue spandex suit, wisps of his fiery red hair peeking out of his silver helmet. The headgear was rigged with lenses that seemed to be shooting the ruby-colored blast. 

_Shit._ Remus recognized him from photos. This was Mind Master, which meant the other members of The Order would be there, too. 

The group of men scattered in all directions to evade the blast and Remus followed a handful of them onto the main street. There were screams all around as the men fired their weapons at Mind Master and at civilians. The green blasts were shattering windows and blowing through walls, filling the air with a cloud of dust and debris. Remus ushered as many civilians as he could away from the attackers, telling them to take cover inside the buildings away from the windows and outer walls. 

A group of men across the road were approaching another group of people with their weapons drawn and Remus took off. He grabbed one of the men by the front of the shirt and swung him around, sending him flying into the wall of the nearest building. He was about to turn and chase the others when a thick fog swept through the street, making visibility from waist down nearly impossible. A portion of the fog seemed to warp and spin into a cyclone, snatching up one of the men in a gust of wind. Remus scanned the ground around the cyclone and spotted a tall figure donned in a deep grey armored suit, arms outstretched as he manipulated the wind. His blonde curls blew from the breeze, his blue eyes bright and focused as he manipulated the fog to snatch another one of the men. Remus recognized the man immediately as another member of The Order, Storm Surge.

Looking away from Storm Surge, Remus had just enough time to see a flash of maroon flying toward him. The figure kicked him hard in the chest, sending him disappearing beneath the fog. Remus let out a grunt as his back met the pavement and scrambled to his feet before his attacker could land another hit. The other man was wearing a maroon spandex suit, a pattern of flames starting at his feet and crawling its way up to his chest. His head was covered by a maroon pullover mask, but Remus recognized the suit immediately; it was The Phoenix.

 _Fucking idiot_ , he couldn’t help but think to himself. Remus rolled his eyes beneath his mask as he looked over The Phoenix’s shoulder and watched Greyback’s men take off down the street. 

With an outstretched hand, The Phoenix lifted a car from Remus’s left and sent it flying toward him. Remus jumped high into the air just before the car could crash into the spot where he had been standing. He landed in a crouch on the roof of the car, the metal crunching beneath him. A small smirk spread across his lips because _he had totally just landed in a classic superhero pose,_ but he couldn’t dwell on that for very long. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw one of Greyback’s men lift a gun and aim it at The Phoenix. With his focus directed at Remus, The Phoenix didn’t see the threat coming at him from the side. Remus pounced forward and pinned the hero to the ground beneath him, a flash of green flying just over their heads. 

“Why don’t you do something useful, yeah?” Remus said, pushing off The Phoenix’s chest and lunging at the attacker. 

He dodged a shot that was fired his way, grabbing the end of the gun and jamming the butt into the other man’s face. Wrenching the gun from the attacker’s hands, Remus took hold of it sideways and whipped it hard across the man’s face. The force of the hit sent the man crumbling to the ground, unconscious. 

Remus took hold of the strap over his shoulder and slung the gun across his back, turning to survey the scene. The Phoenix was being pulled from the ground by the Golden Snitch, who was wearing a maroon mask and spandex with gold chest plating that shone in the midday sun. The Golden Snitch immediately took off, chasing after the retreating men. The man was an excellent fighter, his heightened strength and agility allowing him to fight multiple men at once as if it were nothing. 

“Hey!” The Phoenix yelled, running toward him. 

Remus had no idea what would happen if someone from The Order caught up with him. Not wanting them to pin him as one of Greyback’s men, Remus leapt up onto the wall and climbed to the roof. He ran and jumped across the tops of the buildings back toward his apartment, not stopping until he was climbing in the window from his fire escape. 

It wasn’t until he was home that he remembered he’d left his bag in the alley. Too exhausted to go back for it now, Remus stripped off his suit and shoved it in the back of his closet with the gun before crawling into bed with the knowledge that he would go back before work in the morning.

_____________________________

Remus had spent the better part of Thursday night staring at the weapon he’d retrieved from one of Greyback’s men. While it didn’t seem like Greyback himself had been at the fight on Wednesday night, Remus was hoping that there was something he could learn from this mystery weapon. He hadn’t figured out much - he was too afraid he’d accidentally blow a hole in his bedroom wall - so he hid the weapon away in the back of his closet to come back to at a later date.

It was now Friday and another work week was coming to an end, meaning Remus was on his way for another happy hour with James, Sirius, and Lily. The last few weeks really caught up with him, leaving him exhausted. Remus knew that if he were to cancel, his friends would just show up at the apartment anyway and drag him out of bed for a drink. 

Feeling dead on his feet, Remus pushed through the door to the pub where they were all meeting and surveyed the room. He caught sight of Lily’s red hair and made his way over, sliding into the booth beside her. 

“Thank god this week is over,” Remus groaned, lifting the beer that was waiting for him up in thanks before taking a sip. 

“Was work rough this week?” James asked. 

“The usual shit, pretty much. I’m just exhausted from it,” Remus shrugged. 

“I feel like this has been a crazy week for everyone. It took me forever to get home from work on Wednesday! Half the city was shut down from that fight,” Lily exclaimed, waving her hands slightly to convey her exasperation. 

“The Order really knows how to make a mess, huh?” Remus took a sip of his beer, jumping slightly when Sirius slammed his glass down a little too hard on the table. 

“They’re kind of saving the city, aren’t they?”

“Kind of destroying it in the process, though,” Lily countered. 

“Who the hell was that guy in the black suit, anyway? Anyone know anything about him?” James asked this time. 

Lily and Remus both shrugged in response as Sirius spoke. “Probably just some idiot who thinks owning a pair of tights means he can do whatever he wants,” he grumbled, taking a sip of his beer. 

Remus let a breath out through his nose as he raised his own glass, hoping to hide his mild annoyance. 

“Well,” Remus stood, taking a final swig of his own beer and smiling at his friends. “Why don’t I get us another round and we talk about something more exciting. Like our annual summer trip?”

“I’ll give you a hand, Re,” Sirius said, standing from the opposite side of the table as Lily let out an excited squeal.

They ordered the drinks and were waiting on the bartender to make them when Sirius let out a sigh, leaning his forearms on the bar. 

“Sorry if I’m in a bad mood. Rough week.” 

“You’re fine, Sirius. Everyone’s exhausted. Nothing a few more drinks can’t fix, yeah?” Remus smirked, nudging Sirius’s arm with his elbow. 

Sirius looked back at him for a moment, eyebrows furrowed slightly, and was opening his mouth to say something when the bartender came back with their drinks. Remus took two in his hands and started back to the table, Sirius following not far behind. 

The group talked about their plans for their annual summer trip for the rest of the evening, throwing out ideas on where they should go. Remus noticed that Sirius was uncharacteristically quiet for the rest of the night but chalked it up to an exhausting week. What he didn’t notice was Sirius studying him everytime he turned away to talk to James and Lily.


	5. Chapter 5

_“Why don’t you do something useful, yeah?”_

Sirius had been thinking about that masked figure a lot, lately. The teasing smirk on his lips as strong hands pushed against his chest, leaving Sirius stunned and laying useless amongst the fog as the figure retreated. There was something so familiar about that smile. It wasn’t until he met the gang for drinks that it all came together. There was Remus, amber eyes alight and that same playful smirk dancing across his lips. Sirius was so familiar with that smile by now he could probably draw it from memory. He hadn’t been able to place the smile on its own, the rest of the figure’s face hidden away beneath the mask, but now that the image was there he couldn’t unsee it. 

But this masked figure couldn’t be Remus, could it? Surely, he would know if one of his best friends had superhuman powers. Then again, he and James had been hiding their own abilities from their friends for years. Maybe they weren’t the only ones with a secret. How could his introverted, molecular biology obsessed, beautifully nerdy best friend be this masked hero? Or villain? Sirius didn’t want to think about the latter option. 

After spending a few sleepless nights scouring the internet for any article about this new masked figure, Sirius was left wanting to know more. The search hadn’t given him much more to work with. The man seemed to be a complete mystery, the only articles of substance stemming from witness interviews that interacted with him at the fight a few days ago. Sirius couldn’t help but smile as he watched them, the people expressing their gratitude toward him for helping them take cover and get to safety. 

His rather disappointing quest to find out more about this masked figure and confirm his theory has led him to his current endeavor which, by all accounts, could be constituted as incredibly creepy. It’s not as if he can just approach Remus and _ask_ whether he is this masked figure without outing his own identity as The Phoenix, so Sirius needed to get a little creative. 

It was Monday afternoon and Sirius found himself hovering unseen well above the ground outside Riddle Industries, waiting for Remus to leave work for the day. If he told James what he was doing, he would definitely joke that he is using his powers of flight and invisibility for evil but he was desperate at this point. 

He wasn’t waiting long before throngs of people began to pour out the front doors of Riddle Industries, signalling the end of the work day. Sirius kept his eyes focused on the crowd but it was easy to spot Remus, towering over the heads of many of his coworkers. Remus was wearing a fitted button down, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and dress pants. With his RayBans on, Sirius couldn’t help but think he should be walking out of the GQ Headquarters rather than a laboratory. 

Sirius kept an eye on Remus’s tawny brown curls as he navigated the streets. He followed Remus for a few blocks and said a silent prayer that he didn’t get on the subway, not having thought through how he would follow him if he did. Luckily, the weather was nice enough that Remus kept walking and soon they were approaching the boy’s apartment building. Remus pulled out his keys and threw his shoulder into the front door with a bit of a huff. The front door was notorious for getting stuck and Sirius had to suppress a laugh as he watched him struggle to get it open. On the third try, the door swung open and Remus disappeared into the apartment building. 

Sirius flew around the building to perch himself on the fire escape outside of Remus’s window. It was a few minutes before the bedroom door swung open and Remus walked inside, dropping his bag on the floor and unbuttoning his work shirt. 

Okay, this had definitely reached a new level of creepy. Thankfully, Remus only unbuttoned the shirt to loosen its hold around his neck before flopping back onto his bed, his legs dangling off the end of the mattress. 

Sirius studied Remus for a moment, from the sharp line of his jaw to the clean lines of his chest and shoulders, muscles visible even through the button down. His eyes traveled down his toned arms, all lean muscle until reaching the slender dip of his wrists. He knew he should probably look away, but having the opportunity to admire Remus’s appearance without having to worry about being caught staring was too irresistible to pass up. 

The sharp trill of his ringtone pulled him from his reverie. Remus shot up on his bed, his head turning to face the window. Sirius scrambled for his phone, silencing it in his pocket, ever thankful that he was completely invisible in that moment. He held his breath as Remus approached the window and threw it open. Remus was silent as he leant on the window pane, eyes searching for the source of the noise. His gaze fell squarely on where Sirius was sitting, his eyes squinting ever so slightly. 

_What the fuck?_ Sirius thought, because it feels as if Remus was looking right at him. There’s no way, though. Sirius knew that there was no way Remus should be able to see him. 

“Hey Re! Want to go get Thai for dinner?” Lily called from the next room. 

Remus looked away, leaning back from the window and turning toward the door to call back to her. “Sounds great. Give me a moment to change.” 

The window was slammed shut and locked, Remus drawing the shades and obscuring Sirius’s view into the bedroom. A wave of relief washed over him at the knowledge that Remus would be safe from any prying eyes. The irony of the situation was not lost on Sirius, knowing full well that he was doing exactly what he feared someone else could do. 

Letting out the breath he had been holding, Sirius mentally scolded himself for keeping his sound on as he pulled out his cell phone. He had a missed call from Pascal Dumais, the head of The Order, along with a message informing him that they needed to assemble for a meeting at headquarters. 

Chalking this particular reconnaissance mission up as a loss, Sirius put his phone back into his pocket and took off to fly toward Order Headquarters. Order Headquarters was located at the top of Gryffindor Tower in the heart of the city. Sirius landed on the terrace at the top floor, not wanting to chance a walk through the front doors of the building. He was dressed in nothing special today - black joggers and a black short sleeve tee-shirt - and didn’t want to run the risk of anyone inquiring as to what this average twenty-one year old was doing in the building. 

Shaking out his hair and resuming visibility, he made his way through the glass doors to the adjoining room. The rest of The Order is already there, chatting around the big roundtable in the center of the room. 

“There he is! What were you off doing today?” James asked, leaning back in his chair as he tossed a baseball up in the air for a one-man game of catch. 

Finn O’Hara - or Mind Master, as he’s known to the public, was engaged in a conversation on the other side of the table with Leo Knut, a.k.a. Storm Surge. Sirius settled into a chair a few spaces down from James and kicked his feet up on the table, clapping his hand to signal that he toss the baseball his way. 

“I was just out and about in the city. Nothing particularly interesting.” He caught the ball and tossed it back toward James, shaking his hand out after doing so. Even after years with his powers, James didn’t always know his own strength which can - and has - led to quite a few unintentional injuries when the two of them are goofing off. 

Their game is interrupted when the doors open at the far side of the room. Pascal Dumais walked in with a smile and stopped to stand at the head of the table, Agents Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadowes following not far behind him and taking a seat. 

“Good evening, _mes amis_. I hope everyone is doing well.” 

Sirius offered a greeting back to Pascal, setting the ball down on the table to give the man his full attention. 

“Have we been able to get anything about the missing children?” Leo asked. After the fight on Wednesday, there were a number of men that they had taken into custody and subjected to questioning. 

“They still won’t talk. We’re hoping that they’ll be more willing to offer information now that they’ve spent a few days with us,” Dorcas said. 

“Dorcas can be very convincing. It’s hard not to give into her eventually,” Marlene added with a smirk. 

“If anyone can get them to talk, it’ll be you two. Grown men tremble at the sight of you,” Finn added. 

“We’re the interrogatory dream team,” Dorcas said with a smile, leaning over to high five Marlene. 

“Once we can get a solid lead on where Greyback is hiding, we can set up an operation to send you all out. In the meantime, we have some other matters to discuss,” Pascal said, pressing a button on a remote control and illuminating the electronic monitor projected behind him. 

It took everything in Sirius to keep his expression neutral as images of the mystery masked figure flash across the screen, a collage of stilled images of him running across rooftops and climbing the sides of buildings. 

“Now, we need to figure out who this individual is. He clearly possesses superhuman abilities and it is unclear at this time where his loyalties lie. It doesn’t seem that he is in with Greyback, but that doesn’t mean he is on our side, either.” 

With another click of the button, various videos appear on the screen. There were videos of him fighting with some of Greyback’s men but also of his fight with Sirius. 

“We need you all to keep an eye out and see if you can find out anything about him. If you find him, bring him in for questioning. We need to find out what his motives are. No one just wakes up and decides to go out fighting without a reason.” 

“Do we know what he can do? Clearly, he can climb walls. But do we know what else?” James asked. 

“From what we can see, he appears to be incredibly strong. Looks like he has heightened agility, too, and can jump pretty high. Does that sound about right, Sirius?” Marlene asked and all the eyes in the room turn their attention toward him. 

“Me? I don’t know too much about him,” Sirius balked, trying to look casual with everyone’s attention on him. 

“But you fought him, right? What could you gather about his powers from that?” Marlene further prodded him. 

“Oh, yeah. He was able to jump pretty high in the air rather quickly. It was hard to catch him with his guard down, so I would say that sounds about right.” 

Pascal nodded, satisfied with his response and Sirius lets out an imperceptible sigh of relief. 

“Good. Well, I want you all to keep an eye out. See if you can figure anything else out about him. Figure out who this man might be. We’ll leave our guests in the capable hands of Agents Meadowes and McKinnon. That’s about all I have for you, tonight.” 

They all lingered at the headquarters for a little while longer, chatting and catching up with one another before heading out for the evening. James fell into step beside Sirius as they make their way toward the elevator. 

“Wanna grab dinner somewhere? I haven’t eaten yet and I’m starving. Could probably devour an entire pizza myself. I can text Lily and see if she and Rey want to meet us.” 

“Pizza sounds so good, I’m in. Remus and Lily already ate, though. We can go grab a beer and a bite from that place by our apartment?” 

“How’d you know they ate already? Keeping tabs on my girlfriend,” James said, nudging an elbow into Sirius’s side. 

“You caught us. We wanted to tell you together but it seems we’ve been found out,” Sirius let out a nervous laugh because _fuck, he’s stupid_ but hoped he could play it off. “Nah, I talked to Rey and he mentioned something about dinner.” 

James just shrugged and smiled as the elevator doors opened, the two of them walking into the lobby. Sirius was relieved that he didn’t push any further, not wanting to disclose his theory about Remus just yet. Especially not with the Order seeking out further information. If this masked figure really was Remus, Sirius wanted to be able to talk to him about it first. He wanted to find out what his motives were before anyone else could bring him in for questioning. If Remus wasn’t on the same side as them, Sirius wasn’t sure what he was going to do. All he did know is he wanted to be the one to find that out first. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have started making character mood boards that I'm posting on my tumblr @madsholland 
> 
> Remus is posted, so check it out!


End file.
